


Onions are Evil

by orphan_account



Series: Soumako Drabbles [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Makoto can't cook, Rin likes to spoil Makoto, Sousuke is both, college au that discusses nothing about college its just college time wise, everybody fuckin' loves Makoto, protective Haru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 19:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3740251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto is glad to take a break from college in Tokyo when he goes home to Iwatobi for the weekend to celebrate his mother’s birthday. He wants to cook something special for her, but he’s a terrible cook. Who else to help him but Sousuke?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Onions are Evil

**Author's Note:**

> Another drabbleeee. It's probably been done before (Sousuke teaching Makoto how to cook) but I just wanted to write it anyways :B

             “Haru! Makoto! Over here,” a grinning red head waved at them in front of the appointed family restaurant.

            “I’m so glad we came home this weekend. I didn’t expect you to visit Iwatobi also,” Makoto said as he opened the entrance door to let them in.

            “Yeah it wasn’t planned. I just felt a little homesick you know,” Rin said sounding a bit tired, maybe because of his hard hours of training. Rin brought them toward a booth in the back with a fan hovering above them, dissipating the summer air.

            “I know what you mean. Living in a new place is nice, but sometimes I miss the quietness of Iwatobi.” Makoto pulled on the collar of his shirt, airing out the sweat from running earlier.

            “Are you going to stop?” Haru asked, the sudden question causing a stir in the atmosphere, but was quickly broken with Rin’s smile.

            “Hell no. I’m aiming to be an Olympic champion. Don’t be slacking with your training, Haru or else I’ll have to find a new rival.” Rin grinned wider. Haru scoffed, hiding his own soft smile. Makoto also smiled at his best friend, knowing that Rin’s answer had given him relief that Rin wouldn’t say he was going to quit swimming again.

            The cheerful waitress dropped by their table to take their order, “Welcome! Today’s special is beef curry and as you may or may not know, specials are always discounted at 20% off. How would you like to get started today?”

            Rin and Makoto both ordered the special, while Haru picked a dish that had at least some resemblance of mackerel in it.

            “So what brought you guys home for this particular weekend?” Rin asked after the waitress left.

            “Well it’s my mom’s birthday tomorrow and my family is planning to celebrate tomorrow night. They told me I didn’t have to come home, but I wanted to surprise them. So I’m staying at Haru’s place tonight,” Makoto rambled.

            “Hm, so that’s going to be your gift. It’s so like you,” Rin chuckled.

            “Well…I did want to do something else also…” Haru looked up from his glass of water and eyed Makoto, stopping him from mentioning the _taboo._

            “What? What did you want to do?” Rin provoked.

            “I want to cook my mom’s favorite dish,” Makoto slipped out quickly as if it would prevent Haru from hearing.

            Haru gave Makoto a stare. _Not this again. Makoto, no. You’ll only hurt yourself._ But Makoto was persistent, trying to give his best puppy eyes; however, Haru was even more stubborn and already almost immune to the expression.

            After watching the two silently argue, Rin finally jumped back into the conversation. “Why don’t you have Haru teach you?”

            Haru too tired to speak, gave a mere, “Tried. Didn’t work. Dangerous.”

            Rin’s brow rose as he repeated, “Dangerous?”

            Makoto elaborated with a tinge of embarrassment, “There may have been a _few_ times I lost concentration and forgot to turn the fire down and such…No big deal.”

            Haru continued, “No big deal? Makoto, you always end up having cuts and burns. Just give it up,” he ended sternly. Makoto tried to object but Haru’s concerned look left him dejected.

            “Well if Haru doesn’t want to teach you, I know someone who can,” Rin casually interrupted.

            “Rin!” Haru called obviously displeased.

            “C’mon Haru, this is important to Makoto. Let him do this one more time,” Rin smirked, sounding like a doting father.

            Haru huffed, feeling cornered by his friends. He gave in with a sigh, “Fine.”

            “Haru, thank you!” the big fluffball whirled to his side to give his best friend a hug, then gave a wide smile to Rin for the help.

            “So who’s the friend?”

            “Hm?”

            “The friend that’s going to help Makoto,” Haru clarified. Makoto unwrapped himself from Haru, also curious about Rin’s answer.

            “Ah well…It’s Sousuke.”

            Haru gave a subtle cringe while Makoto, on the other hand, was extremely happy. So happy, that it took him a while to respond, “He knows how to cook?”

            “Yeah and he’s pretty good at it,” Rin bragged as though it were about himself.

            “No.”

            Makoto and Rin looked towards their friend shaking his head disapprovingly. Makoto knew that Haru didn’t get along with Sousuke _well_ , even after the Samezuka festival fiasco, but he also knew Haru didn’t dislike him either. “Haru please, just one time,” Makoto pleaded with a more sorrowful pout than earlier. This time Haru stood no chance. Makoto’s game was too strong.

            “Fine, but just this one time.”

            “Alright then, I’ll text him right now that you’ll be going to his place tomorrow,” Rin confirmed as he took out his phone from his pocket.

            “Will he be okay with this?” Makoto asked worried about showing up so suddenly.

            “Yeah, of course. It’ll be fine,” Rin said a bit too nonchalantly. “I’d actually be doing him a favor anyways,” Rin whispered.

            “Hm? Did you say something?”

            “Nope. Not a thing.” Rin flashed him a mischievous smile.

~

            Makoto rang the doorbell once, then twice after hearing no sound. When the second round of dings and dongs came around, he could hear thuds and foot stomping. It didn’t take long before the door opened, revealing a disheveled Sousuke. Though it seemed like his droopy eyes were droopier, his eyes remained as clear as the morning sea, reminding Makoto of the very image of Iwatobi. It took him a minute to realize he was staring, before actually greeting, “Good morning, Sousuke. I’m sorry if I woke you.” He gave a sugary sweet smile that could melt the cold morning chill wrapped around Sousuke’s body.

            “No, it’s fine.” Sousuke turned half way and rubbed his neck as heat began to warm its way beneath his tired eyes. “Come on in.” Makoto followed Sousuke into the house, heading towards the kitchen.

            The house looked surprisingly normal. It wasn’t like Makoto expected a big, fancy house, but somehow normal didn’t really seem to fit Sousuke or at least his depiction of Sousuke—the one that always had an intimidating and kind of upstanding aura. Maybe it’s because Makoto admired him and his skills and his rash persistence to keep swimming, sacrificing his body for the sake of friendship that Makoto came to develop this idealized version of a woeful and noble Sousuke. But seeing him tie on an apron made him look homey and wonderfully tranquil which also seemed to oddly suit Sousuke. Makoto thought for a moment how he preferred this Sousuke much more.

            “Here take this.” Sousuke handed him an apron.

            “Ah, thank you.” It had been a while since he’s touched an apron with Haru obsessively rejecting the idea of Makoto cooking. It was hard to even go into the kitchen without his wary glares. Eager to cook again, Makoto quickly, too quickly actually, tried to put his head through the hole made by a previous knot, not realizing the tied strings would remain awkwardly stuck on his head. He panicked and complained to the gods in his head as humiliation colored his face red.

            “Pfft,” Sousuke muffled a laugh, but his efforts failed when Makoto turned to him with the apron still hanging off his head. Makoto lifted the veil-like apron to watch Sousuke give a hearty laugh. He’s never seen him so happy. It gave him a bit of a shock. But the laugh was beautifully deep, echoing into his ears and becoming incredibly contagious as Makoto soon found himself laughing with him.

            “Sorry that belongs to my mom,” Sousuke said as he calmed down then approached Makoto to remove the cloth of the soft brown hair. He untied the knot and paused for a second, wondering if it would be alright to put it on Makoto. But instead, he tossed the cloth back to Makoto, deciding it would be too embarrassing for him to do so. “So Rin texted me that you wanted to make hamburg steak.”

            “Yes! It’s my mom’s favorite,” Makoto smiled, thinking about the way his mom always got excited about it, but shied away whenever his father was present. She said it was embarrassing because her taste didn’t match her looks, but his father thought it was incredibly adorable and would tell her so, making her happy all over again.

            “Have you ever made it before?”

            “Um, no,” he gave a guilty smile.

            Sousuke gave a sigh. “Rin told me you were an amateur cook, so you at least know some of the basics of cooking right?”

            Makoto hesitated for a moment, “Yes, of course!” It wasn’t a lie. He did _know_ the basics. It was just he couldn’t implement them well. “Oh! And I brought all the necessary ingredients myself,” he said proudly as though that would make up for his white lie. He carefully took out the ingredients and placed them on the kitchen counter. Sousuke examined them, giving miniscule nods at each item. “Ah,” Makoto frowned sadly, realizing he missed an ingredient, “I forgot to ask my dad for a bottle of sake,” Makoto said nervously as though Sousuke was there to test him.

            “It’s alright. My old man has some. I’ll go look for it.” Sousuke went towards a cabinet and brought out a cutting board and knife. “Meanwhile you can get started with cutting the onions.” He left the kitchen briskly, leaving Makoto to stare at the knife.

            It had been a while, a really long while, and seeing the knife had automatically reminded him of Haru’s scolding. “It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine,” he reassured himself. He took an onion and peeled the outer layers, then carefully cut the ends. Makoto let out a breath and wiped his moist forehead, cautious to not contact his eyes. “So far so good.”

            Now it was getting to the tough part, actually cutting the onion. The devilish vegetable always threatened his eyes to water, but this time he was not going to let the urge stop him. _He will defeat the onion._ With almost unwavering confidence, Makoto sliced the onion in half then proceeded to cut them into slices. It didn’t take long for the acidic air to affect his eyes. He squinted once and shut his lips tight, pressing on to reach the final step of mincing. The burn was beginning to overwhelm his eyes and droplets of tears bubbled at the corners of his eyes, wanting so badly to fall. It was just too much; he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out any longer before the onion once again defeats him. _No_ , he rejected the idea of losing again to a stupid vegetable. He forced his eyes to open as he continued to cut even though his vision was blurred.

            “Stop!” he heard Sousuke yell from beside him, almost making him drop the knife. Makoto turned his head hesitantly, frightened by what expression Sousuke would be wearing. “What do you think you’re doing?” his voice remained heavily irritated. Before Makoto could answer, he approached and placed a gentle hand over Makoto’s to remove the knife, contrast to how his voice sounded. “You could have cut yourself. What were you thinking?” his voice icy again.

            “Ah…I-I’m sorry,” Makoto said still teary eyed.

            Sousuke huffed in disbelief and scratched at the back of his head, a little annoyed. But he looked over at the brunette and felt a bit of shame. He didn’t intend to make him feel bad. So this time he lowered his voice and said softly, “Try to be more careful.” Sousuke placed his hands on Makoto’s cheeks, wiping away the battle scars of the onion. Makoto pulled his lips inward, feeling his heart beat a little faster and the heat evaporating from his face. It didn’t take long for Sousuke to fluster at the reaction and remove his hands.

            Sousuke coughed, trying move from the atmosphere. “You did a pretty good job cutting the onions though,” he complimented awkwardly. “The rest is easy. We mix the ingredients into the bread crumbs and milk, then shape ‘em, and just cook it.” Sousuke walked over to the other side and grabbed a couple of pans and a large bowl from a cabinet. “You can mix. I’ll get the oil heated and make the sauce.”

            The rest of the cooking lesson went more or less well, discounting the moment where Makoto accidentally dropped a patty into the oil, splashing the fatty globs onto Sousuke, who stood nearby. He felt immensely terrible, aiding Sousuke with cold water, medicine, and bandages. Sousuke, who had taken this all quietly, was smiling a bit with coy, grateful for being able to have Makoto care and worry for him.

            They tried the cooked patty as a sample and Makoto was in love with food all over again. “Oh my god, Sousuke! This is amazing!” he exclaimed while taking another bite. “Thank you.”

            “It was your work. Thank yourself,” Sousuke grinned, staring at the wide smiled Makoto.

            “No, no. I couldn’t have done this without you! Haru had given up on me when it came to cooking and stopped me from doing it, so I’m happy that I was able to cook again and actually end successfully.” Makoto took another bite to pause his rambling, “This is so delicious I could die right now.”

            “You’re exaggerating,” Sousuke chuckled.

            “No, I’m not. This is just…wonderful and I just want to keep thanking you. I could just kiss you right now!” Makoto’s hand flew to his mouth a moment too late. The words had already been said. The two of them now just stared at each other blankly, wondering if they had both heard right. And slowly, blush crept up both their faces.

            “I-I-I didn’t mean it like that!” Makoto tried to explain with eyes closed and hands waving in panic.

            “Then do it.”

            Makoto peeked one eye open to see Sousuke serious with just a hint of blush still remaining on his cheeks. He didn’t know if it was the glimmer in the sea-colored eyes or the thrill beating in his heart, but Makoto couldn’t really resist. He let himself walk up to the slightly taller body and place a short kiss onto the warm cheek.

            “F-for your trouble,” Makoto mumbled trying to hide his intentions.

            “And for yours,” Sousuke brought Makoto closer for a savory kiss on the lips. When their lips had parted, he teased, “You’re right. It is delicious.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry I made a side plot of the onion as a villian and made Makoto battle it. But onions are evil. (JK I actually really love eating onions, just hate cutting them. they make me a cry like a baby TTvTT)


End file.
